The present invention relates generally to combustion motors, and in particular to radial combustion motors.
A conventional internal combustion engine has an engine block that includes multiple cylinders that each includes a piston. Each piston reciprocates in the piston""s respective cylinder, first compressing a combustible fuel and then being driven in the opposite direction by a combustion of the compressed fuel. The reciprocation of the piston provides power to a crankshaft. Each cylinder typically includes multiple valves that are mechanically opened and closed and that each provide an inlet and/or an outlet for gases input to and output by the cylinder. For example, one such valve may permit a combustible fuel into the cylinder and another such valve may allow the exhaust resulting from the combustion of the fuel to escape the cylinder. Typically such engines are complicated in terms of the number of moving parts, resulting in an engine that is complicated and expensive to manufacture and repair. Furthermore, such engines typically have a relatively high size-to-power ratio and are limited in that a piston can provide only one power stroke per revolution of the crankshaft.
To resolve drawbacks of the conventional internal combustion engine, rotary engines, such as the Wankel engine, have been developed that utilize a rotor to compress the fuel. The rotary engines are built of fewer moving parts than the conventional internal combustion engines, making them easier and more economic to construct and repair and providing a lower size-to-power ratio. However, the Wankel engine has proven to be not very efficient and has a high fuel consumption rate. Furthermore, rotary engines such as the Wankel engine have had problems with the sealing of the rotors.
Therefore, a need exists for an motor that is built of fewer moving parts than a conventional internal combustion engine with a lower size-to-power ratio and that does not have the sealing problems presented by using a rotor to seal a combustion chamber.
To address the need for a motor that is built of fewer moving parts than a conventional internal combustion engine with a lower size-to-power ratio and that does not have the sealing problems presented by using a rotor to seal a combustion chamber, a radial combustion motor is provided that uses rotors and sealing blades to compress a fuel, to seal a combustion chamber, and to produce a torque.
One embodiment, the present invention encompasses a radial combustion motor having a compression section that includes a compression block that houses a compression chamber. The compression chamber is disposed in a fixed position in the compression block and houses a compression rotor. The compression chamber includes an inner wall and an outer wall, and the inner wall includes multiple ridges that each extend approximately a length of the compression chamber. The compression rotor is rotatably positioned in the compression chamber. The compression rotor, in combination with the multiple ridges of the compression rotor chamber, divides an interior of the compression chamber into multiple sub-chambers. The compression rotor includes multiple sealing blade slots positioned in an outer surface of the compression rotor for receiving multiple sealing blades. Each sealing blade of the multiple sealing blades is slidably received by a sealing blade slot of the multiple sealing blade slots, and each sealing blade radially reciprocates in and out of the sealing blade slot when the rotor rotates inside of the compression chamber, thereby subdividing each sub-chamber.
Another embodiment of the present invention encompasses a radial combustion motor having a combustion section that includes a combustion block that houses a combustion chamber. The combustion chamber is disposed in a fixed in position in the combustion block and houses a combustion rotor. The combustion chamber includes an inner wall and an outer wall, and the inner wall of the combustion chamber includes multiple ridges that each extend approximately a length of the combustion chamber. The combustion rotor is rotatably positioned in the combustion chamber. The combustion rotor, in combination with the multiple ridges of the combustion chamber, divides an interior of the combustion chamber into multiple sub-chambers. The combustion rotor includes multiple sealing blade slots positioned in an outer surface of the combustion rotor for receiving multiple sealing blades. Each sealing blade of the multiple sealing blades is slidably received in a sealing blade slot of the multiple sealing blade slots, and each stealing blade radially reciprocates in and out of the sealing blade slot when the rotor rotates inside of the combustion chamber, thereby subdividing each sub-chamber.
Still another embodiment of the present invention encompasses a method for compressing a compressible fuel by a motor comprising a rotor that is rotatably positioned in a compression chamber, wherein the rotor comprises a sealing blade slot that slidably receives a sealing blade. The method includes steps of rotating the rotor, and in response to the rotation of the rotor, applying a centrifugal force to the sealing blade. The method further comprises steps of subdividing the compression chamber into multiple sections based on the centrifugal force and compressing the fuel mixture in a section of the multiple sections by the sealing blade based on the rotation of the rotor.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention encompasses a method for generating a torque by a motor comprising a rotor that is rotatably positioned in a combustion chamber, wherein the rotor comprises a sealing blade slot that slidably receives a sealing blade. The method includes steps of rotating the rotor, and in response to the rotation of the rotor, applying a centrifugal force to the sealing blade. The method further comprises steps of subdividing the combustion chamber into multiple sections based on the centrifugal force and igniting a combustible fuel in a section of the multiple sections. The method further comprises steps of applying a forward force to the sealing blade in response to the ignition of the fuel and applying a torque to the rotor based on the forward force.